The 2023 edition of Art Basel has the same number of participants as the one that took place between June 16 and 19, 2022 in the Swiss city. Photo: AFP
After all the pandemic-related postponements and cancellations, art and antiques fairs are returning to their usual place in the international calendar.
And some are even coming back stronger than ever, if the next edition of Art Basel is any indication.
Some 285 galleries from 36 countries will participate in the world's leading contemporary art fair, which will be held June 15 to 18 in Basel, Switzerland.
Among them are regulars of the art event such as Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, David Zwirner and Perrotin. Some 20 galleries from Europe, Africa, Asia and America will have a stand for the first time.
Three of the first-time labels are entering directly into the main Galleries sector, namely Blank projects (Cape Town), Empty Gallery (Hong Kong) and Offer Waterman (London). The Feature sector will host eight first-time exhibitors, including David Castillo (Miami), Thomas Erben Gallery (New York) and Gajah Gallery (Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Singapore), compared to 10 for the Statements sector.
The next edition of Art Basel will also mark the inauguration of the Kabinett section, already well known to visitors to the Asia and Florida versions of the contemporary art fair.
This section allows art dealers to display the works they present to the public and - above all - to potential buyers in a more "curatorial" way.The 2023 edition of Art Basel will count the same number of participants as the one that took place between June 16 and 19, 2022 in the Swiss city. The previous edition of the art event attracted nearly 70,000 visitors to the aisles of the Basel Messeplatz, including many American buyers as well as Asian attendees.
Art Basel director Noah Horowitz hopes to maintain Art Basel's status as the world's leading contemporary art fair when it is held again this spring.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome the international art community to Basel in June for another premier edition of our show and my first as the organization's CEO," he said in a statement.
"Ranging from bold contemporary positions to rare presentations by 20th-century icons, our Basel fair will once again reaffirm its pre-eminent position as a platform for discovery and encounters that drive the art world."
Alongside the contemporary art fair itself, visitors to Art Basel will be able to discover some 20 special installations around Münsterplatz and downtown Basel.
One of these will be a "sprawling superstructure" designed by French-Moroccan artist Latifa Echakhch, a former Marcel-Duchamp Prize winner and Switzerland's representative at the Venice Biennale in 2022. In addition, the city's museums and cultural centres will offer a wide range of exhibitions and events throughout the week. - AFP
